Foreword

In 1977 there was published a book by Fred Brook entitled "The Industrial Archaeology of The British Isles — 1. The West Midlands" (Batsford). It was not to be expected that a small book could deal adequate ly with such a large area and this, in fact, was the case. While Mr.Brook dealt in some detail with the big industrial settlements, he was unable to look at the rural areas to any extent: it was no surprise, therefore, to find the area encompassed by Studley,Alcester and Bidford and their satellite villages completely neglected. This present attempt by some members of the Alcester and District Local History Society to fill in this gap has taken over a year of field work and recourse to printed sources; it highlights two of the disciplines which are among the aims of this Society,viz. those of research and recording.

G.E.Saville
Chairman.

Introduction

Industrial Archaeology is the study of the visible remains of industrial activity; this Gazetteer contains details of such remains in the lower part of the valley of the River Arrow, Warwickshire.

What sort of things is an industrial archaeologist interested in’? Almost anything related to past industry, such as railways, canals and turnpike roads, representing transport and communications; watermills and windmills; needleworks and factories representing manufacturing; and other examples of enterprises which employed people r in times gone by. Such a study is important because these activities which employed many people have largely left little documentary evidence of their presence their only monument is the structures which they used: but even these things tend to disappear with the years, so it is important to record them. What follows is a list of what we found in our area in the late 1970’s: no doubt, it is incom plete and possibly there are errors although, to the best of our knowledge, it is correct. We would be grateful for additional information about any of these sites or any others unknowingly omitted.
    Finally, reference must be made to deliberate omissions and one inclusion We have omitted sites connected with agriculture and tradesmen and we have included sites where the location is known but where there are no visible remains; otherwise, important information would have been lost. This, then, is the scope of our work. If it stimulates interest in, and concern for, the history of industry in this area, it will not have been in vain.
C .J.Johnson

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